WEBVTT FILE

1
00:00:00.010 --> 00:00:05.680
[ droning sound ]

2
00:00:05.700 --> 00:00:09.180
[ music ] Unlike robotic rovers, which land on the Martian surface,

3
00:00:09.200 --> 00:00:14.880
the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission, MAVEN, will go to work in orbit.

4
00:00:14.900 --> 00:00:20.380
But there are other things that separate this remarkable mission from recent trips to the Red Planet.

5
00:00:20.400 --> 00:00:29.270
Instead of taking photographic images, or measuring the terrain, MAVEN will study the Martian atmosphere, using an array of sophisticated instruments.

6
00:00:29.290 --> 00:00:35.240
Scientists believe that Mars was once home to a thicker atmosphere, and bodies of flowing water,

7
00:00:35.260 --> 00:00:39.340
but they wonder, where did all that atmosphere and water go?

8
00:00:39.360 --> 00:00:47.310
The answer may lie in the Sun, or more precisely, how the solar wind interacted with the early Martian environment.

9
00:00:47.330 --> 00:00:56.980
By carefully observing Mars' atmosphere today, scientists will better understand what it was like in the ancient past, helping them to plan future missions.

10
00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:02.980
Pursuit of answers requires serious muscle. MAVEN carries eight scientific instruments,

11
00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:09.450
each designed to examine specific aspects of the Martian environment, from atmospheric composition,

12
00:01:09.470 --> 00:01:14.730
to the planet's magnetic field, to the characteristics of the Mars upper atmosphere.

13
00:01:14.750 --> 00:01:19.580
The spacecraft's orbit will be unusually elliptical too, affording opportunities

14
00:01:19.600 --> 00:01:25.880
to make measurements close to the planet, as well as more than 3,800 miles above the surface.

15
00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:32.780
Scientists using MAVEN to study the present-day Martian atmosphere hope to reveal what the planet was like long ago.

16
00:01:32.800 --> 00:01:39.670
Did the early atmosphere support liquid water, and where did it go? Were conditions once favorable for life?

17
00:01:39.690 --> 00:01:45.380
Did changes in the atmosphere help to turn Mars into the frozen desert we see today?

18
00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:49.790
These questions and more have beguiled Mars-watchers for decades.

19
00:01:49.810 --> 00:01:57.080
With MAVEN, NASA intends to fill in some of the planet's elusive early chapters.

20
00:01:57.100 --> 00:02:10.130
[ ambient space sound ]

21
00:02:10.150 --> 00:02:21.788
[ satellite beeping ]